Friday 10 February 2017

Rib Eye Steak, Medium Rare Please!


After cooking a steak and finding out that it was still raw (which some of you told me is medium rare), I was determined to do better. 

Before the Chinese New Year, I made a trip to Jaya Grocer one evening to grab my stash of beef. To my disappointment, all the stock available was something like 2 or 3 days old (even though there was still a few more days shelf life).


So I asked for assistance but was informed that those are the only batch available. The person-in-charge assured me that the beef was still good as it was well chilled and vacuum packed. So I took a leap of faith and purchased 4 packets.

Back home, I stashed them in the freezer and a few days later had a chance to cook myself another piece of steak.

I used my cast iron pan, a hand-me-down from my auntie, for which I am very grateful. This pan is ideal for cooking steak or searing meat.

Let me show you my precious pan.


It is heavy like hell but does a great job. 


Since the pan is well seasoned, food does not stick to it. It took me quite a long time to get used to this pan because initially everything stuck and burned.


But not anymore. If you take good care of the pan, it will serve you well. It also helped me develop arm muscles 😝

This time I made sure the beef was properly at room temperature, i.e. not cool to the touch especially at the center. I just used salt and pepper as seasoning like the last time.


How's that? Much better don't you agree?


I was quite pleased with this one.


I served it with Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes. And a drizzling of my favorite Chimichurri.


I guess I won't have to burn a hole in my partner's pocket anymore when I crave for steak. When we eat out, one steak can set us back upwards of RM60. And sometimes, they don't even cook it to my preferred doneness. 

Maybe Wagyu beef is next. Let me save some money first πŸ˜€

46 comments:

  1. Wahhhhh!!!! All those outside kalah kao kao liao!!! Looks so nice. I'll have mine well done, please, thank you. Hehehehehe!!!!

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    1. Aiyo! Well done kah? hah..hah...then very easy, much easier to cook than medium rare :)

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  2. Looks like you've perfected your steaks! Well done :)

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  3. The doneness actually looks medium to me but then I only have photos to judge...plus I can't really see the centre cut of the beef (only the edges which usually are more cooked than the centre). But it doesn't matter the doneness as long as you enjoy it...and a cast iron pan is the best way to cook a steak at home. I wish I can use a cast iron pan (I'll go out and buy one in a jiffy) but that only works on a stove top and I use induction. A cast iron pan is able to sear steaks well especially if heated to smoking point. I thought nothing sticks in a cast iron pan from the get go...didn't know it needed to be seasoned like a wok...hehe! ;) You're right about the price of steaks outside...now you've tempted me to cook steaks at home (at half the price)...but I don't have the liberty of using a cast iron pan! T_T

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    1. Oh, medium eh? Hmmm...I shall attempt another one soon hee..hee... Yeah, you should do steaks at home, even without the cast iron pan.

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  4. I love beef steak at medium rare :D Yours looks so perfect to go with a glass of red wine.

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    1. Wah, so classy with red wine some more hee..hee..

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  5. Wow, you are an expert in cooking steak now. I also like it as in your photo, tender but not raw.

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    1. Not really expert but more like guesswork, agak2 hee...hee...

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  6. I can understand what you meant when you mentioned arm muscles using the iron cast pan. I tried using one before and it was so super heavy, secondly, need to wash with caution and spend moments taking care. And the end result of the food is worth the tasks. Yes, your steak indeed looks good, didn't know that just pepper and salt is good enough to marinate... :)

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    1. Yes, the pan have to wash with care, cannot use detergent. Just brush off the oil etc and rinse with water. At first feel geli a bit hah..hah...

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  7. Semalam i baru makan steak kedai bawah pokok PH. Bawah pokok pun Rm17 henggit you.....

    Nampak keringlah PH tapi mungkin realitinya tidak kan... Pan kalau berat mcm tu baguskan. Food cepat masak.
    Hihi...tak payah beli dumbell lagi nak bina muscle PH....

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    1. Yang bawah pokok tu harga dia OK kot sebab tak payah bayar sewa kedai. Sewa sekarang ni mahal adoi! Pan yang berat ni PH jarang guna sebab malaslah. Berat dan kena bersihkan secara sental2 gitu.

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  8. BEAUTIFUL work with the steak! i'm sure many would love this ... personally, i like mine a little bloodier ... it's the sight of the blood that drives me wild, heheh :D

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    1. Thank you! Ooohhh...vampire-like, eh? hee..hee...

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  9. That look simply divine!

    I love medium rare too, but Hubby is the one who usually cooks steak and he always do it well done. Huhuhuu

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    1. Then you take over the cooking of your own steak hah..hah...

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  10. I love steak but without the red in the meat. My hubby will love the way your steak is cooked, just nice for him!

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    1. I used to be scared by the not fully cooked meat but now I appreciate it.

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,
    Oh! Cooking with the iron cast pan makes the steak perfect to the doneness you want. Yum!

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    1. Hi Karen! Yes, I am now the boss of my steak hah.hah..

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  12. Oooo. I love it, PH!! I know iron cast pan. I used one when I were in Sibu few years back when I stayed in an uncle's house. So heavy but useful. Haha.

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    1. I am using it more often now thanks to the steaks hah..hah...

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  13. Hello, Phong Hong. Do you want the Cleome Flower seeds? I have collected some seeds and if you would like to have some, you can email your address to me and I will send some over to you. You can find my email address on my blog.

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    1. Oh yes, Nancy! Thank you! Will drop you an email soon :)

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  14. Is grass fed beef widely available in your area?

    p/s Recently, you and another blogger talked about adding baking powder to chicken wings for easy, crisp wings. I kept the recipe simple. I only marinated it for about 30min. It worked. Gluttony without the guilt.

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    1. It's available only in some supermarkets. You have now tempted me to bake chicken wings hah..hah..

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  15. I'm not a huge meat eater, but you've cooked it exactly how my hubby likes it.

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    1. I love my meat but I must have my veggies to go along.

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  16. berapa minit masak utk dapat medium rare PH? minat nak buat steak, husband suka

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    1. PH agak2 aje. Lebih kurang 3 minit each side.

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  17. Cook at home definitely can save a lot! (at least for your case of steak)

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  18. I cooked jerk chicken wings. It was smoking good.

    I will dip into your recipes slowly. There are pearls there.

    I don't eat pork belly but I wanna try this baking powder tip and make a tinny crisp roast pork.

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    1. I kept a recipe for jerk chicken but I have yet to get into action. Sounds wonderful from what you said. So...will be making it soon :)

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  19. Looks a whole f**king lot better than what I did! XD

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  20. Wow! Your meat presentation looks good and appetizing. I often eat too well done or burnt when we cook on our own. Sigh!

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    1. Thank you :) The thing is to shorten your cooking time.

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  21. Your beef looks perfect! I'm always sending Bill back out to the grill to cook mine longer---he likes his VERY rare. No thank you :)

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    1. Thank you! If it is very rare, I am quite squeamish on account of the blood!

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  22. Yes, the one from a jar (Jamaican import is as close as a decent home made, so I am told). I like to try Jamie Oliver's curry goat. The curry powder is from a Caribbean lady. I have not had a good curry goat.

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    1. I'll check the supermarket and see if the have it!

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